Sheep / Dog

There's a funny sheep on the farm that thinks he's a dog. . .


He has no fear and apparently wants nothing to do with the other sheep. . .


He even wears a cute blue collar. . .

He followed us right out into the arena and begged to have his ears scratched. . .

Other than having a sheep/dog join our lesson, it was just another ordinary lesson on the farm. . .

Finally. . .

Good things have been happening around my house lately as we play catch up from years of building a business and neglecting our home but the most exciting thing that's happened to me in quite awhile happened on Monday:

We have had two crippled vehicles in our driveway for many, many years. They have gathered dust and cat hair (gross, I know) and, just like I handle the embarrassment of my back yard, I have worn blinders and pretended they didn't exist. I can only do so much between work and school and laundry and getting rid of vans just wasn't something in the realm of what I can handle on my own. . .

Out of the blue on Sunday evening, Rob listed them both on Craig's List for $100 each and by 8 a.m. on Monday morning we had received over 20 calls. The first caller reached us within minutes of Rob placing the ad and he was the lucky winner of BOTH of the vans. I was so happy when they rolled out of my driveway that I almost cried. I still grin every time I pull my truck into the driveway and purposely take up as much of the empty space as I can!! If only I had known how easy it would be. . . I wonder if we can put the backyard on Craig's List. . .

Halloween. . .

For the last several years, Rob and Zach have bonded over a scary Halloween maze that they build in our front yard. I go along with it in spite of the fact that it is big and time consuming and messy and well, you know, in our front yard. I'll admit that I get a kick out of it when neighbor kids are having a great time getting scared and saying how cool the whole thing is so I won't pretend that it's all Rob's and Zach's idea. For reasons I can't quite put my finger on, the maze didn't happen this year. There were weather issues and time constraints but the excitement building up to the event just didn't seem to be there this year. When Rob suggested we have a little party at the church instead, Zach just got on board with it. No disappointment, no resentment, no tantrum throwing. We were all just OK with not having the maze this year. I think Zach knew all along that he just wanted to throw himself into character as Michael Jackson instead. . .

Gloria was very happy to trick-or-treat in the Adams' neighborhood for the first time in about 5 years. She went as some sort of Goth Diva. . .

Rob set up Guitar Hero in the gym complete with speakers, subs and moving lights:

It was pretty cool. . .

It was laid back and unplanned which is my favorite kind of party. . . The kind where I'm not actually in charge of entertaining anyone. . .

At the end of the evening, all we had to do was clean up the snacks and put away the speakers and stuff. There was no maze to take down, no yard to clean up, no neighbors looking at us like we've lost our minds. . .

It was admittedly a bit of a let down to skip the maze but at least we can look forward to making it bigger and better next year. For now I can look back and remember how much fun it was as well as how much work it was!! This is last year and the year before. . .

The Games. . .

On Saturday morning, October 31st, all four of the people in the Baker household were up before the sun. This is a VERY rare occurrence. It's far more likely for us to still be up when the sun rises than for us to wake up, on purpose, in time to see the sky look like this:




It was about 32 degrees outside and we were on our way to Gloria's horse event. I kept taking pictures of the sunrise while I was driving because it's something I rarely see!!



It was beautiful. . .

We arrived on the farm before 8 a.m. so we could set up the small sound system that I had volunteered to bring. Of course I volunteered Rob and Zach to set it all up so you can imagine Rob's "delight" at getting to set up a sound system before 8 a.m., in the sand, outdoors, in freezing temperatures. I think he owes me one (or two) so I didn't feel too sorry for him. . .

Gloria and I went into the barn to get Penny ready to ride and found that Penny's young owner had already begun the process. Gloria chipped in to help her and had a chance to learn some tips and tricks from her as well. . .

This was our very first experience to join in the competitive games that the farm puts on several times/year. We kind of knew what to expect since Gloria has learned most of the games during class time but she was still a little nervous on Penny and wasn't entirely sure she would remember all the rules. Much to my relief, Penny's owner, Katherine, stayed by her side and kept an eye on them both as they competed! All of the riders younger than about 12 had "spotters" with them so that helped me relax and enjoy the games!

After the first couple of games, Gloria relaxed, too, and really had a great experience. . .

Her partner was a beginner, too, but was older and was on a much bigger horse. . .

The two of them did very well together. . .

The speakers looked and sounded great, too!! They usually announce winners and things with a megaphone at the games so they were pretty happy to have a sound system. . .

All of the races had a Halloween theme and one of them was called "bobbing for apples". The gist of it was to run to the far end, feed your horse an apple and run back. It was pretty funny. . .

This was a relay race with a baton hand-off:

This very short clip is the only proof I have that I was a working participant!!:

Gloria took part in the very first group of games and at the end of her rounds, the winners were announced and ribbons were handed out. . .

Gloria's team ended up taking second place!!!!

There were 5 more groups to compete so Rob and Zach were excused and Gloria and I stayed around to help. . .

I was pleasantly surprised to see little Cookie compete in almost every game. She had many different riders and really held her own all day. . .

Many of the riders were dressed in costumes and several people even decorated the horses . . .

I spent the day helping set up each game for the different divisions of riders. . .

There were cones and buckets and all kinds of different items that had to be switched out every 5 to 10 minutes. . .

The last group of the day to race was the adult division. There were many levels of riders in this group and it really spurred me on in thinking that someday I might be a part of this group. Despite walking through sand all day in cowboy boots in nearly freezing temperatures, I really enjoyed taking part in the games. I'm still surprised at my new found enjoyment of horses and the satisfaction I get from working with and around them. I'm still very unclear on how all of this will unfold but, just like every other aspect of my life, I'll take it one step at a time, breathe in and breathe out and see what happens. . .

Zach. . .

I took a series of pictures the evening before Halloween that have been forever banned from my blog. By Zach. I would love to post them all here but he might not ever forgive me if I do. I managed to convince him to let me show a few of them but the rest will have to be left to the imagination. It all started when Zach jokingly tried on a couple of items from Gloria's Halloween costume:



Gloria decided he looked like Michael Jackson with the red leather jacket on so she proceeded to help him get even more into character. The wig had to go and was replaced by the hat. . .


She also decided to apply a little bit of makeup. . .


The next half hour was hilarious and Zach was a very good sport but you'll just have to take my word for it (I'm also open to bribes) . . .

I won't tell you that Zach even pulled out some MJ dance moves . . .

. . . because that might get me into trouble. . .

Thursday Horses. . . AND Snow!!!

People Watching . . .

For the first time in about 10 years I find myself without any Wednesday night responsibilities at church. When Gil and Louise retired in the spring, I took that as my cue to retire from Kid's Club and the deal was sealed when Jody stepped up to take the kid's program in a new direction. I still have quizzing but that doesn't really seem like a "responsibility". It's not like I have to make a plan or actually be in charge of anything. Do I?

I've been waiting for a thump on the head or a loud-and-clear message of some sorts to give me some direction but for now I'm enjoying being responsibility-less. (That's not a word but it should be!)

As I was wandering around aimlessly on Wednesday night, I had to smile at all of the activity that was happening around me. Talking, laughing, confiding, wrestling, hugging. I just kept my phone out and took pictures of everything.

I love these people. . .

Extra Lesson. . .

We had an extra little horse lesson this afternoon because Gloria was invited to be in a special horse riding event this weekend and she needed to brush up on a few things. It was also our first real taste of serious horseback riding.



When we go to the farm on Thursday afternoons, the only people around are the two instructors, the kids in Gloria's home school class and their parents. The only horses in the barn are the ponies the kids ride plus one or two bigger horses (always in stalls) that pretty much mind their own business. It has a comfortable, laid back feel about it and I've begun to think that I'm perfectly safe there and, even more, that I know what I'm doing. . .



Today the atmosphere was completely different. Not in a bad way, but maybe in a realistic way. The riders in the class were more experienced, quite comfortable in their saddles making parents and spotters unnecessary, the ponies seemed to respond well to the experience and stepped it up a notch, instructor expectations were higher, and there were very tall horses with tall riders in the arena, the barn and along the road. The weather was unsettled and bone chilling. It even tried to snow. . .



There will be many riders in the arena for the show this weekend so Gloria was given a pony she has never ridden before so she could get to know it before Saturday.

Penny is a beautiful brown pony who seemed a little more spirited than the ponies Gloria is used to. She is used to being pushed hard and they are trying to train her to be more gentle on her rider when she picks up speed. Obviously Kim thinks Gloria can handle her or she wouldn't have matched them together but one of us stayed close by, just in case.

I wasn't worried. The horse was gentle even though she seemed a little anxious and I trust that Kim knows what she's doing. . .

By the end of the lesson, Gloria was feeling more comfortable and really stepped up to this new challenge. The lesson is one hour rather than her usual two hour class and it flew by very quickly. There was less instruction, more expectations and even more responsibilities. We unsaddled and unbridled Penny and even gave her some grain as we brushed her.

There were older students saddling and unsaddling large horses in the barn which was very intimidating to me. Those fears I thought I'd conquered tried to weasel their way back in to my head to tell me I couldn't walk safely through the barn without one horse kicking me through the stall of another who would then trample me to death!! I'm proud to say I looked the situation over, reminded myself that I don't have to be afraid as long as I use the right precautions and I walked right in between these two horses not once, but twice!! No kicking, no trampling, no dying.

It was a great lesson. I think Gloria and I both learned something about ourselves today and I'm pretty sure this is only the beginning . . .

Fall Fire On The Grove. . .

Events have been few and far between the last couple of weeks so I found myself actually looking forward to our one small event on Saturday evening. Rob has been staying busy with installs and other business related stuff and I've been working from home (which has been really nice), but it was good to get out with the kids and enjoy Fall! Gloria took some pictures around the Grove while we were setting up:

Zach, on the other hand, had to work. . .



The first act of the evening was a reenactment of Michael Jackson's Thriller dance. It wasn't just happening in Boise, however. . . It was happening all over the world simultaneously! You can read about it on KTVB by clicking right here.

There is a video on the KTVB site but this is the one I took with my Blackberry:

The rest of the evening would have been very enjoyable except that it was so cold!!

These were all taken with my phone so they're not the greatest but they give a general idea of what the event was all about. I'll just tell you that there were drummers, dancers and poets. And so much more. . .

When the event was over and packed up, we went to my in-law's house to watch the BSU game. It was nice to sit in a rocking chair with a fleece blanket in front of the fire. . .


It was a very nice ending to a chilly fall day. . .